Microsoft Solitaire and 3D Pinball. All I feel is nostalgia when I think about these games.  My favourite memories of playing these games were in high school when we were first introduced to computers. Computer classes were a time to treasure. 40 – 80 minutes a week was all we got and we made every second count.

Every free second we got, every time the teacher walked or took his eye away from us, we switched tabs and played. We had the fastest hands in the west. Solitaire and Pinball are the few games that made my childhood worthwhile.

How to Install 3D Pinball Space Cadet on Windows 11 or Windows 10

1. First, download the 3D Space Cadet executable file. You don’t need to extract it; double-click the WinRAR file and click Run.
2. Install the game in its default location, and it will show up in the Games folder, just like it did in legacy versions of Windows.
3. To launch the game, hit the Windows Start button and look under the Games folder.
4. Launch the game and relive this Windows classic! Oh, just one more thing, be sure to down the volume if you’re playing at work. This baby is noisy!

3D Pinball Space Cadet works on 32 & 64-bit versions of Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10. I also just tested it on Windows 11, and it works without a hitch! Have fun!

Start off your week with tech news recap and trending conversations in your inbox

Enter valid email-id

Subscribe

I prefer it on Telegram

History of Microsoft Solitaire

For context, Microsoft’s Solitaire game is 32 years old and PinBall is 24 years old! Microsoft Solitaire was originally included as part of Windows 3.0 back in 1990. It was designed specifically to teach users how to use a mouse. The developers felt that the familiar game was the perfect way to introduce users to relatively new computing concepts. By playing Solitaire, users learnt more than they bargained for.

Microsoft Solitaire, originally known as Windows Solitaire, is one of the most played games in the world. It shipped in every version of Windows for more than two decades. According to Microsoft, 35 million people still play Solitaire monthly. I am one of them.

As of this month, it’s now an official member of the World Video Game Hall of Fame, joining classic titles like Doom, Tetris, World of Warcraft, and Halo: Combat Evolved. Solitaire still comes to Windows 10 but now with better graphics. Not so much luck for Pinball though.

 Space Cadet 3D Pinball

Microsoft Pinball Arcade is a pinball video game from Microsoft. It was released on December 15, 1998, for Microsoft Windows and in 2001 for the Game Boy Color. The game is a collection of seven real pinball tables licensed by Gottlieb.